Bayan Signage builds front-lit letters for shopfronts, pharmacies, supermarkets and showrooms that must be found after dark. We match LED spacing to the letter depth, test each face colour lit and unlit, and run every letter at full brightness in our Ajman factory before it ships. Outdoor signs carry a 5-year warranty on LEDs, finish and structure.
Front-lit letter signs are 3D letters with a translucent face, usually opal or coloured acrylic, and LED modules inside that shine forward through it, so the whole face glows in the brand colour. They are the brightest and most legible illuminated letters you can buy, which is why late-night pharmacies, supermarkets on service roads, fast food outlets, fuel station shops and car showrooms across Dubai and the northern emirates rely on them.
A good front-lit face is even from edge to edge. A poor one shows rows of bright dots, called hot spots, a pinkish red where the brand is crimson, or a muddy blue at night. Those faults come from three things: the distance between LEDs and face, the spacing of the modules and the face material. Our electricians lay out modules for each letter depth, and we light every new colour behind the actual acrylic before we approve it.
Bayan Signage is the production arm of Bayan Advertising, which has worked in the UAE market for 15 years, and our factory at Alam Square, Industrial Area 2, Ajman has made illuminated signs since 2016. LED assembly, driver wiring and full-brightness testing are done in-house, and the crew that builds the sign fixes it and checks it again after dark on site.
Trusted by 500+ UAE businesses, including
Most front-lit signs start from the same channel, then change face, edge and mounting. These are the variants we recommend most.
Aluminium returns, opal acrylic face held by a trim cap, LEDs inside. Economical, easy to service and the default for most UAE shopfronts.
View details →Face bonded or recessed with no plastic trim, so light reaches the outline. Chosen for mall units, cosmetics and small precise logos.
View details →A glowing face plus a halo on the wall behind. More depth and presence for restaurants, gyms and showroom entrances.
View details →Brushed or mirror steel edges with a lit acrylic face. A premium edge by day for car showrooms and hotel frontages.
View details →Front-lit letters on a fascia panel or raceway, a quick, tidy option for shop units with a shallow or uneven wall.
View details →
We measure the fascia, check what sits behind it and photograph the street by day and after dark, because neighbouring signs set how bright yours needs to be.
New brand colours are lit behind the actual acrylic and vinyl we will use, with white and coloured LEDs, and checked in daylight and darkness before you approve.
Faces and backs are CNC-routed to ±0.1 mm, returns are bent to the outline and joined, and the inside is painted white to reflect light forward.
Modules are spaced no further apart than the gap between LED and face, so a 100 mm letter with an 80 mm air gap gets modules about 80 mm apart.
Every letter runs at full brightness in our test area. We check for hot spots and colour match, and compare each letter to the approved artwork before dispatch.
Our crew fixes the sign, puts drivers in a ventilated, accessible box and returns after dark to confirm even brightness. Faces can be swapped between similar letters if one looks different.
This is the specification we start from for an outdoor front-lit shopfront. We adapt it to landlord criteria, viewing distance and budget, and itemise each change.
| Component | Our standard | Upgrade options | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Face | 3 to 5 mm opal cast acrylic | Coloured acrylic, polycarbonate for low-level sites | Opal diffuses LEDs so the dots disappear; polycarbonate resists knocks. |
| Face graphic | Translucent cast vinyl in brand colour | Day-night film, multi-colour with opaque outlines | Cast vinyl holds colour longer in UAE sun than cheaper calendered films. |
| Air gap | 60 to 100 mm between LED and face | Deeper letters, or denser modules for shallow mall letters | Distance is what turns separate LEDs into an even face. |
| LED modules | Samsung or Epistar, IP65, 6,500 K white | Red, blue or other colours matched to the face | Coloured LEDs behind deep red and blue faces give richer, truer colour. |
| Interior | Painted white reflective finish | Reflective lining | Adds brightness and evenness without adding modules or power. |
| Control | Driver outside the letter, on a timer | Dimmer or photocell | Dimming meets community brightness rules and extends LED and driver life. |
Front lighting is simple in principle and easy to get wrong in detail. These are the points we raise on almost every front-lit brief.
A red that looks perfect on your monitor can turn pink when lit from behind, and a navy can turn murky. We light the actual acrylic and vinyl with white and with colour-matched LEDs and send you photos, or invite you to see them, by day and at night. It adds a day to the programme and saves rebuilding faces after the opening.
White light through red acrylic looks weak and slightly pink. Red LEDs behind a red face give a deeper, more accurate colour, and the same is true for strong blues and greens. For multi-colour logos, we often split a letter into zones with different modules, and use a thin opaque outline between colours so edges stay crisp when lit.
Our rule is that module spacing should be no larger than the distance from the LED to the face. Shrinking a letter from 100 mm to 50 mm deep to meet a mall limit means roughly doubling the module count, or accepting hot spots. If the landlord sets a shallow depth, we price the denser LED layout openly rather than quietly fitting too few modules.
A very bright white face glares, looks cheap and can break community brightness limits, especially near residential balconies. An even, comfortable face reads further than a blinding one. We fit a timer as standard and recommend a dimmer or photocell on mixed-use buildings, so the sign can be turned down after a certain hour without rewiring.
A front-lit sign spends about half its life switched off. White opal faces can look plain and grey in afternoon sun, and day-night film looks black by day. We show you a daytime mock-up on your facade photo as well as the night render, so the sign works at noon as well as at midnight, and stroke widths stay at least 30 mm outdoors for even light.
We price from the drawing, not a list. Send your logo, the fascia size and day and night photos of the street, and you will get an itemised quote, usually within 24 hours.
White opal acrylic is the most economical. Coloured acrylic, multi-layer vinyl, day-night film and polycarbonate each add material and application time.
Shallow letters need closer module spacing, and colour-matched LEDs cost more than standard white, but both prevent a spotty or washed-out face.
Larger letters need bigger faces and more modules, and long names multiply fabrication and wiring time.
Powder-coated aluminium is the baseline. Stainless or brushed returns give a premium edge and cost more in material and finishing.
Getting a brand colour right lit and unlit may need samples in more than one acrylic or vinyl, tested with different LEDs.
Brightness criteria, permit drawings, height and mall night shifts all affect the installation and approval lines.
Outdoor illuminated signs usually need approval before installation: Dubai Municipality or the free-zone authority, such as DMCC, JAFZA or TECOM, in Dubai, and the local municipality in Sharjah and Ajman. Signs facing major roads may involve RTA as well. Malls and master communities add their own landlord approval on top.
Front-lit signs attract more brightness and lighting-hour conditions than unlit ones, particularly near homes. Our draftsmen prepare the shop drawings, elevation and specification, including LED and control details where they are asked for, and check the Arabic and English wording against your licence. We confirm current requirements for your exact address at the survey.
Modules, drivers and wiring are fitted by our own electricians, and every letter is run at full brightness before it is closed.
New face colours are checked behind the real acrylic with real LEDs, in daylight and darkness, before you approve them.
Outdoor front-lit letters are covered for 5 years on LEDs, finish and structure, with a warranty document at handover.
Samsung or Epistar IP65 modules keep brightness and colour consistent from the first letter to the last.
Our draftsmen prepare and follow submissions for municipalities, free zones and malls as part of the job.
The crew that builds your sign installs it and checks it after dark, with one project manager from brief to handover.
It depends on letter count and height, face material, LED density, return finish, mounting and access. A short logo with white opal faces is far cheaper than a long bilingual name with colour-matched LEDs and stainless returns on a high fascia. Send your logo, fascia size and photos for an itemised quote, usually within 24 hours.
Hot spots appear when LEDs are too close to the face or spaced too far apart for the letter depth. The cure is a deeper letter, closer module spacing, better lensed modules or a more diffusing face. It is far easier to design this in at the start than to fix it after installation.
Day-night film is a vinyl applied to acrylic faces that looks black or dark grey in daylight but transmits white light when lit from behind. It gives letters that look dark and elegant by day, matching dark facades or tinted glazing, and light up clearly at night, at a higher cost than standard vinyl.
Less than most people expect. Typical lensed LED modules draw around 0.5 to 1.5 W each, so a shopfront sign a few metres long usually runs at a few hundred watts depending on size and brightness. A timer or dimmer reduces running costs further and extends LED and driver life.
Usually, yes. Faces held with trim caps can be removed and replaced with new acrylic or vinyl, which costs a fraction of new letters. Bonded and trimless faces are harder to replace, so tell us if a rebrand is likely before choosing the construction. We keep the drawings, so new faces fit exactly.
Yes. Bilingual signs are a large share of our work. Arabic letterforms often have small dots and thin joins that are hard to light evenly, so we size both scripts together, widen fragile strokes slightly where needed and check spelling against your trade licence before cutting.
In most cases, yes. Outdoor illuminated signs usually need approval from Dubai Municipality or the free-zone authority for your area, and malls and communities add their own approval and brightness rules. We prepare the drawings, handle the submission and confirm the current requirement for your address.
Well-made front-lit letters typically give eight to twelve years of service. The modules we use are rated for around 50,000 hours, and our outdoor letters carry a 5-year warranty on LEDs, finish and structure. On sun-facing walls, vinyl faces may fade sooner and can be replaced without rebuilding the letters.
Send your logo, the fascia size and a site photo. Our estimating team replies with options and an itemised price, usually within 24 hours.